Mixed Media MC - Photo Inspiration

Welcome to a BRAND NEW Mixed Media Monthly Challenge! For the month of September, we want to see how you're inspired by this gorgeous photo...

Are you inspired by the colors? The flowers? The feeling of summer? Whatever it is that inspires you, we wanna see it!

I created a very mini shadow box from an old wood veneer container. I was inspired mostly by the colors, but also added in some floral accents.

The original case is from a Recollections (Michael's brand) package of wood veneers. I cut one of the slots out of the bottom to make it larger for the quote.

The chief enemy of creativity is 'good' sense - Picasso

I tried to treat each square like its own mini canvas. I started with a small square of corrugate cardboard and rubbed acrylic paint on it - white, yellow, or magenta. From there, I added charms, veneers, or chipboard accents to each piece.

I painted this flower wood veneer in the colors of the inspiration photo. Some small accents, like sequins to glitter, were added to each piece.

We're extra excited about this month because the amazing ELLEN HUTSON online shop is our sponsor! That means someone will win a $25 gift certificate to the amazing Ellen Hutson shop! And our amazing guest designer is Julia Stainton!!! We are so lucky to have Julia and Ellen Hutson on board with us this month! Woohoo!!

Visit back to the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge to see all of the design team's projects and more information on how to enter!

<3 Rachel

Monster Mash!

Today is such a great day! College football is in full swing, the US Open (tennis) is on all day long, and the weather was perfect. What could make it even better? Brand. New. Lawn. Fawn. I made two cards with "Monster Mash" because I just needed to play :)

They make such a cute couple, don't they? I colored the monsters with Copic markers and fussy cut them and the sentiment. I used my Silhouette to cut the large spider web from DCWV "Eek a Boo" paper, and the green and black cardstock is from DCWV "Bewitched" stack. I love how that bubble embossing folder looks with anything monster themed :) I added some small splatters of Color Shine in green and purple.

For my next card, I had this idea of little monsters peeking out of their haunted house windows and saying hi to each other. They are friendly monsters after all. I die cut random squares and fit all the monsters how I wanted inside each window. Then I backed the whole panel with spider web pattern paper from DCWV "Eek a Boo".

Each monster was colored with Copics and fussy cut. I cut up the sentiment to spread it across the entire card. The moon and the sentiments are from Lawn Fawn's new "Spooktacular" set.

Have a safe, fun, and crafty Labor Day weekend! I'm linking up this post to Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday party!

<3 Rachel

Unity Hop - BIG Labor Day Sales!

Another Thursday has rolled in, which always means another awesome Unity blog hop and a SALE! I can't believe how early Labor Day is this year, but it's here, and there is some shopping to be done :)

The sale starts at NOON CST today and runs until Monday night at midnight. Now onto my card for today...

You've probably seen this owl all over the hop today! The whole team fell in love with this sweetie and we all had to play along :). I colored the image with Prismacolor Pencils and blended with Gamsol. All papers are from DCWV "Christmas Memories" stack. I also used my favorite die - Lawn Fawn "Stitched Journaling Die" to frame the image.

EDITED TO ADD - I just finished this card using the latest Stamp of the Week and I really wanted to add it in this post! So here is this adorable bird.

I colored the bird with Prismacolor pencils and blended with Gamsol. I mixed a pink gelato with some whipped spackle to add the stenciled hearts. Paper is from My Mind's Eye "Marketstreet".

This owl is available for the Labor Day Sale as a bundle with a Unity T-Shirt! Only $14!

And of course there are several more deals to be found all over the Unity site.

Make sure you leave comments throughout the blog hop! TWO lucky winners will win this awesome grab bag of Fashionistas

Your next stop is the talented Stephanie! Happy Hopping (and shopping!)

<3 Rachel

I'm linking up this post to Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday party!

Papertrey Ink August Blog Hop

Inspired by Kate Spade! Need I say more? I knew I had to participate in this one! Here is the inspiration photo...

The Papertrey Ink blog hop for August caught my attention immediately. I haven't joined in the hop in months and months, but I wasn't about to pass this one up. I created a very simple card using golds, silvers, and pinks.

I used a single small polka dot stamp from Papertrey Ink "Polka Dot Basics" and stamped it randomly in Delicata gold ink. The sentiment was die cut from DCWV silver glitter paper using PTI dies "Headline Alphabet" and "Birthday Trio". To get just a bit of pink in there, I added these fun sequins from Doodlebug.

Keeping this one short and simple today, there's lots to get done! Happy Monday!

<3 Rachel

Procrastinated Triangles ;)

It's 10pm! This morning I created a card for the Moxie Fab Trendy Triangles challenge... then I didn't do anything with it, thinking I had pleeeenty of time to post before the challenge closed. Wrong! At this very moment I have 1 hour and 52 minutes left. So please enjoy my very late post with very late photos :)

Someday... I'll stop procrastinating  (ya right)

This was the inspiration photo... Triangles!

I used the Papertrey Ink triangle die plate to fill the whole front of the card with triangles. I backed it with the bright ombre rainbow paper from Glitz "Wild and Free" to make everything pop. I used chevron embossed white cardstock from DCWV for the diagonal banner. The sentiment is a die cut from Lawn Fawn... it was originally cut on white glitter cardstock, so I just colored it a very dark grey with Copic marker C6.

Close call for the challenge! Back to doing Wednesday night things for now...

g'night :)

<3 Rachel

Key Lime Summer

This summer I have been craving all things Key Lime from pies to ice creams to cookies. It is definitely a perfect summer flavor! I created my key lime inspired card for the latest Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge "Summer"!

The new citrus papers and ice cream stamps in the latest Simon Says Stamp card kit were an easy choice for this card. I embossed the lemon pattern paper with big polka dots, then lightly swiped over them with an Olive stamp pad. Each ice cream cone was stamped on Neenah cardstock, colored with Copic markers, and added to the card with foam adhesive. The banner is from the Simon Says Stamp set "Exchanging Card Friends" which I cut out then stamped the fun "You're so cool" sentiment. I was so happy the sentiment fit so perfectly inside that banner! (it's the little things!)

Once all the pieces were adhered to the card, I went in to add some Crystal Stickles, little dots of yellow Liquid Pearls, and Glossy Accents over the banner.

mmmm summer sure is delicious ;) I'm linking up this post to Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday party!

<3 Rachel

SSS Card Kit - Summer Dreams	*Simon Says DIE & STAMPS SET EXCHANGING CARD FRIENDS SetEC43	SSS - Ice Cream Dream	*Neenah Classic Crest 80 LB SUPER SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 25 Sheets
*Simon Says Stamp Card Stock 100# GREEN APPLE GA6	Bo Bunny - Lemonade Stand 6x6	*Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD CRUSHED OLIVE Green Ranger	*Sizzix POLKA DOTS & STARFLOWERS SET Embossing Folders Textured Impressions 658990
*Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad LIME GREEN Mid-Tone AF262 2014	*Ranger Inkssentials MINI GLOSSY ACCENTS Glue Dimensional Adhesive .5oz	*Ranger STICKLES CRYSTAL White Clear Glitter Glue	*Copic SKETCH 72 PC SET C Markers CCCS72C
*3M Scotch DOUBLE-SIDED FOAM TAPE Permanent	*Sizzix BIG SHOT MACHINE Die Cut Emboss Compatible with Tim Holtz Dies 655268	*03441 Fiskars PREMIUM CUT LINE Paper Trimmer 12 Inches	*EK Success CUTTER BEE Scissors EKCB01

InLinkz.com

Embossing Paste Backgrounds

A happy hour TGIF post comin at ya! :) I wanted to try the fun techniques that Laura Bassen shared on the Papertrey Ink Make it Monday post. Since the challenge is to use embossing paste and stencils, it just so happens to match up PERFECTLY with the August Mixed Media Monthly Challenge, so of course I had to play. The colors for the card were inspired by the new Curtain Call Challenge "Tropical Trip".

I mixed Faber Castell Whipped Spackle with three blue shades of Distress Inks and then ran each color of spackle over my DCWV stencil. The results are awesome, and totally worth all the extra mixing and cleaning! I added a strip of vellum to the center then die cut the Papertrey Ink "Wonderful Words: Thank You Die" out of DCWV red glitter paper. The little speech bubble heart is from Papertrey Ink "Bubble Talk" die set.

Since this card is all about making your own colors of embossing paste, it is the perfect time to shamelessly self promote my first YouTube Video! I created this video for the August Mixed Media Monthly Challenge... have fun watching!

<3 Rachel